Tag Archives: family
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part V
When a colony has lost its queen and not replaced her, the hive is almost certain to die a slow and sorrowful death. The great plans we had for this small nuc – a source of a pound or two … Continue reading
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part VI
My anno horribilis apis had one more final insult to bestow upon my ever-shrinking self-esteem. Our little hive was attacked by robber bees. Once again, it was a scene entirely reminiscent of Tolstoy’s dying Moscow: There is no longer the … Continue reading
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part IV
This is the fourth piece in my six-part description of my colossal failure as a beekeeper this summer. If you’ve been following this little series, you saw how I acquired a little queenless nuc, transported it to my home, and … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping
Tagged Alberta, Calgary, family, nuc, queenless hives, Queens, Tolstoy, weak hives
10 Comments
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part III
Over the past few days, I’ve been writing about the misadventures of a small queenless hive which we placed in our back yard this summer. It dutifully raised several nice queen cells. At the time, I worried about the greedy … Continue reading
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part II
Yesterday, I started to describe my rather lousy year as a beekeeper. It began with an intentionally weak queenless hive. I picked it up at my daughter’s farm and brought it into my back yard, here in the city of … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Friends
Tagged Alberta, Calgary, family, nuc, queen cells, weak hives
2 Comments
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part I
I’ve worked with bees for almost fifty years, raising queens, pollinating crops, making oodles of honey. I grew up in a beekeeping family (so my 50 years started really early). Over that long time period, I worked for some really … Continue reading
